Juliet is a very special kitty! She was rescued off of I-95 near Philadelphia. She was found to have a broken tail and abrasions on her paws. She is currently in a foster home that has young children, 2 dogs and 5 cats. She is a little afraid of other animals, but does tolerate them and is getting better around them. She is not overly fond of other cats which can result in growls and swats.

She loves to sit with you on the couch and be pet as long as there are no other cats around. She will come running as soon as you call her name.

Juliet's Story by Wendi Miller

 It was Saturday afternoon, and I'd just gotten home from working a few hours, and sat down to see what was happening on Facebook.  I pulled up my news feed, and about three “stories” down was a post from one of my Facebook friends, Michelle Helms. It said “cat stuck on I-95” and had a link to a craigslist ad.  A woman living by an overpass on I-95 heard a cat meowing loudly, and when she went out to check, saw a cat stuck on the overpass, about 35 to 40 feet up.  The woman had no idea how to help this cat, so she posted a craigslist ad asking for help.

I replied to Michelle's facebook post, because I live about 5 minutes away from I-95, in Levittown. I figured I'd go out and see if I could help this poor cat get off the highway.  Michelle was in touch with the craigslist poster by email.  I left the house around 5:30 or so, after sending a text to my spouse, Carol, who was visiting her mom about 10 minutes away.  At that point, I just wanted to let her know where I was going, and didn't really think it would be too complicated... find the cat, get it OFF the highway, and figure it out from there.  I grabbed a cat carrier, a flashlight, and off I went.

As I drove to the area where the cat was, somewhere between the Alleghaney and Girard exits, I kept checking Facebook for updates from my phone.  Michelle had replies from a few people saying they would try to look.  She also posted that the original craigslist poster had tried the police, fire dept, and city shelter, and no one would come help this poor cat. 

The first two times I passed the area where the cat was supposed to be, I didn't see a thing.  No cat, only a blue “tub” sitting at the side of the road  by the exit.  The tub looked empty, but there was no room to stop and make sure.  The road had hardly any shoulder after the entrance ramp, and the traffic was fairly heavy.  After my second pass, getting off the ramp, someone flashed their lights at me.  It was Carol, who drove from her mom's to find me and help with the rescue.  We pulled over under the I95 overpass, tried to see a cat from there, and didn't find anything.  We decided to combine forces, and left my Jeep and took her car, as she knows her way around the city far better than I.

Meanwhile, on Facebook, people were saying the same thing.  “We've driven by and didn't see any cat”.  One couple, Jennifer and Chris Augustin, had made a few passes like Carol and I had.  Carol and I drove back for a third pass.  Meanwhile, Jennifer posted on Facebook that she was in contact with the craigslist poster, who got her cell phone number from Michelle.  I texted Chris our cell phone number, and suddenly, our party of two rescuers increased to a party of four.  And, on our third pass by the spot, Carol saw the cat!! 

Poor girl, she was sitting on the edge of the overpass, on top of the cement edge of about 3 feet high, on the other side of a chain link fence... the side that faced a 40 foot drop!  This was going to be a harder rescue than we'd thought.  Traffic was pretty heavy, there was about a 2 foot shoulder at this spot, and it was starting to get dark. 

We got off at the next exit to loop around again and try to figure out what to do.  Also by now we'd been talking to Jenn and Chris, told them we had seen the cat, and they were also with us trying to figure out a plan.  We all decided we'd pull over on the entrance ramp, where there was still a shoulder, and then some of us would have to walk about a half mile or so to where the cat was stuck, and figure out how to get her off the outside of the ledge and into the carrier.  We hoped she'd be cooperative.

Meanwhile, on the ground, the woman who'd originally posted on craigslist was watching for us. We didn't know this at the time, but she was there keeping an eye on the cat and cheering us on.

We met Chris and Jenn at the entrance ramp, and pulled the cars over.  It was completely dark by now.  Carol decided to stay with the cars, and when she saw us get the cat and start walking back, she'd make a run and pick us up.  Chris, Jenn, and I started walking along the 2 foot shoulder.  Cars were fairly close to us, including a few that beeped, as if we didn't realize they were there!  I guess they wondered what a man and two women, one with a cat carrier, were doing walking along I95 on a Saturday night.  We walked about a half mile, and spotted the cat.  She was on the other side of the chain link guardrail/fence, but she had walked from the middle of the fence to the edge, where there was about a foot long opening and a light post.  I have no idea how she knew to walk to the opening.  The woman from craigslist was below, and watched the cat move to the opening when she started hearing our voices.  What a smart cat!! 

The last problem was, she was still on the other side of the fence, sitting very still on about 4 inches of concrete.  One false move and she would fall about 40 feet down.  I had the carrier, so Jenn was the one who got the job of grabbing Juliet off the ledge.  Chris's job was to make sure neither of us got hit by a car while this was happening!  Jenn very bravely and very carefully reached around with one hand and scruffed the cat. The cat was very cooperative and did not move a muscle.  Jenn picked her up gently, lifted her around the light pole to our side of the fence, and placed her in the carrier. Whew! Safe kitty! 

We made our way back to Carol and the car without too much trouble. We did see the woman from craigslist cheering us on from below, and made sure she knew that the cat was safe with us.   Jenn and Chris got into their car and we drove to the exit and off I95, and pulled in to the nearest gas station to stop and check on the cat, and congratulate each other and breath a big sigh of relief  that we ALL were safe.  After lots of hugs, and a few phone calls and Facebook posts to say we and the cat were safe, we said goodbye.

We decided that this cat deserved the best new home, and she would get that if we made her a Cat Shack foster kitty.  So, she came home with Carol and I.  All the way home, we talked about names, but nothing really stuck.  When we got her home, we checked her over and found no major damage, thank goodness. Her paws were scraped up, and she was VERY quiet, mostly from stress.  We did discover that she was a she.  We put her in a crate in our garage, with lots of blankets, food, and water, for the overnight.  Poor girl was exhausted, and slept soundly all night. Who knows how long she'd been out there on the highway.

When I finally got back to Facebook, I realized that Grannie Juliet, a 22 yr old cat rescued from a shelter in NYC, had passed away.  Grannie Juliet (with her mom, Amanda) inspired a rescue movement for older cats, and spent her time in her new home making people on Facebook aware of the plight of senior cats in shelters all over the country.  Grannie Juliet and her family live in Philadelphia, and here we had just rescued a female cat from the highway in Philly.  What better tribute than to name our new rescued cat after Grannie Julie?  So, Juliet the rescue kitty now had a name. 

The next day, our Juliet made a trip back to Philly, to go to PAWS, where she was checked out by a vet tech, since it was a Sunday. Other than her paw scrapes and a wound on her hind end, she was ok, as far as they could tell without x-rays.  Juliet also tested negative for Fiv and FeLV.  Later that day, our Juliet made another trip, to Quakertown, to meet up with Jake for her introduction into the Cat Shack. She spent the next few days at Perkiomen Vet Hospital, where she was spayed.  They also discovered that she had a broken tail.  From the look of her injuries, we're assuming that someone tossed her from a car on I95.  Somehow, she survived, made it to the edge of the highway, alerted someone of her situation, and waited patiently to be rescued.  What an amazing girl.

Juliet's next trip was to her new Cat Shack foster home, with Tracey Hartley and her family.  Juliet will

stay with Tracey while her tail heals.  Once the vet decides she's ready, Juliet will be on the lookout for a new home, where she will never have to worry about traffic again!

Adopting from The Cat Shack

The Cat Shack rescue is all volunteer and the adopted cats are delivered to your home. Because we deliver the cats to you, we must restrict the adoptions of our highly adoptable cats to a 1 hour drive from the Allentown PA area. In certain situations, 'special-needs' cats, ferals and older cats will be adopted to homes at a greater distance then a 1 hour drive from Allentown PA.

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Young KITTENS are always adopted in Pairs or to homes with other felines already in the home. Click here to read why kittens are happier with a buddy!

All cats are vaccinated, dewormed, tested and altered as part of the adoption contract. This basic care (and other vet work required to make our rescues healthy) is included in the $85 adoption donation!